Skip to main content

Worst Sports Weekend Ever?

I guess I haven't totally gotten "grace" yet, but I can't stop thinking about the flow of the weekend, sports-wise, that couldn't be described in any other way than "train wreck". (Apropos for a blog talking about Lehigh Enigneer... I mean, Mountain Hawk football.)

I wake up on Saturday, and it's a sunny day. Beautiful. And I couldn't have had a better feeling of karma driving up to Easton. It felt like the moon was in the seventh house, Jupiter aligned with Mars, and the sports world was aligned for me.

Let's recap what happened after that, shall we?

* The 142nd. Lehigh, of course, loses.
* Later that evening, I watch my wife's alma mater, Rutgers, get humiliated by Cincinnati 30-11. Their outside shot at a national championship is gone; their shot at a BCS bowl requires them to run the table.
* I wake up the next day greeted by the realization that the Flyers, unsurprisingly, got drilled 6-1 by the San Jose Sharks, cementing their league-worst 5-14-2 record.
* At noon, Lehigh's wrestlers lost to their third nationally-ranked squad of the season in Edinboro (PA) in the Pennsylvania Duals, adding to their defeats to Rider and Michigan. Lehigh is in danger of losing their Top 25 ranking for the first time since I can remember.
* The Eagles will surely get by the Titans. McNabb will lead them to victory. Right? Right?
* The team I grew up with, the New Orleans Saints, get embarassed by the Bengals 31-16, further proving that their great start was a total fluke.
* Lehigh's men's soccer team falls to Duke in the third round of the NCAA Tournament 3-0.
* Jimmie Johnson wins the Nextel Cup. I don't follow NASCAR at all, but anybody that reminds me of the former Cowboy head coach can't be a good person.
* Even the Cowboys wouldn't cooperate, upsetting the Colts 21-14 and ensuring that we haven't heard the last of annoying loudmouth T.O. and obnoxious Bill Parcells.
* Real Madrid forces David Beckham from pal Tom Cruise's wedding. Rather than sit around with wife "Posh Spice" in Yankee hats doing the "Electric Slide" with Tom & Katie, he was forced to join the team in a 3-1 defeat of Racing Santander instead. (That was part of the worst sports weekend ever simply because it was an actual news item.)

Seriously, could it have gotten any worse? Well, maybe if the Yankees came in and signed Matzusaka from the Red Sox by doubling their offer. But it's no wonder I feel like Jake LaMotta in Raging Bull right now.

Some I-AA playoff commentary tomorrow, and some I-AA playoff predictions coming Wednesday, so stay tuned.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I think Laf beats UMASS. Laf's the real deal
1:40 AM
Anonymous said…
All Patriot League Team

First Team Off First team Defense
Threatt Fabre
Maggs Morgan
Reese Rackus
Petrucelli Thomas
Leo Austin

Second Offense Second Defense
Thompson Mohler
Kehs Moore
Congrats to all.
12:55 PM
Anonymous said…
Here we go again Politics!!!!!!!
1:10 PM
Anonymous said…
Jake LaMotta's nephew, Chuck LaMotta, played football for Lehigh in the early 60's.
1:52 PM
Anonymous said…
And former Cowboy Emmitt Smith wins Dancing with the Stars....
11:08 PM
Anonymous said…
I dunno.... I think the Cubs over paid and over yeared for Soriano. I'm not really upset about losing our on him.
11:29 PM
Anonymous said…
Remember, Coach Strobel always said this was going to a be a re-building year for Lehigh Wrestling. Four freshman are taking the place of four All-Americans who graduated so reduced expectations are warranted.

BTW, that's a good thing. At least Lehigh athletes graduate, compared to the colleges who's athletic programs are really just minor league farm teams for professional sports.

Gary "72
1:37 PM
Anonymous said…
this is coming from a recent grad/player from your lehigh team, our program is a hault right now and in order for us to become a premier team in the league again we have to compete on and off the field with the other teams, the rest of the league yes i said the rest is moving ahead of us..from facilities,recruiting, the way they treat their athletes and the whole experience. im telling you all this in all honesty but about 99% of the team is on board but all 99% feel like they arent getting the full experience of a real program, there is alot of little things such as getting one grey workout shirt,gold shorts,grey undershorts for 4 years! one pair of cleats for the WHOLE year as well as not having up to date nutriotion and workout supplements that other patriot league schools are getting. If lehigh wants this program to remain close to the top alot of changes have to be made, in order to remain on top you have to recruit better than everbody else..i give it 3 aybe 4 more years and lehigh will be the 4th best team in the league why? because the program hasnt advanced since the 70' if you think im bullshitting ask any current or former player.....lehigh needs to keep up with the rest of the pack the sprint is downhill now and lehigh athletic dept still thinks we are miles ahead like we use to be little have they understood that everybody else has opened up stride and is now a few steps ahead...tradition isnt old time sakes tradition is Winning in order to keep winning you have to be bigger, badder, and better than everybody else..someone please express this to joe sterett, hell the basketball team can get renovated locker rooms and football cant? please...were are behind the 8-ball i want to see lehigh back as the team! no a team in a league!
1:39 AM
Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

How The Ivy League Is Able To Break the NCAA's Scholarship Limits and Still Consider Themselves FCS

By now you've seen the results.  In 2018, the Ivy League has taken the FCS by storm. Perhaps it was Penn's 30-10 defeat of Lehigh a couple of weeks ago .  Or maybe it was Princeton's 50-9 drubbing of another team that made the FCS Playoffs last year, Monmouth.  Or maybe it was Yale's shockingly dominant 35-14 win over nationally-ranked Maine last weekend. The Ivy League has gone an astounding 12-4 so far in out-of-conference play, many of those wins coming against the Patriot League. But it's not just against the Patriot League where the Ivy League has excelled.  Every Ivy League school has at least one out-of-conference victory, which is remarkable since it is only three games into their football season.  The four losses - Rhode Island over Harvard, Holy Cross over Yale, Delaware over Cornell, and Cal Poly over Brown - were either close losses that could have gone either way or expected blowouts of teams picked to be at the bottom of the Ivy League....
40 comments
Read more

UMass 21, Lafayette 14, halftime

Are you watching this game? UMass had this game under control until about 3 minutes in the second quarter, and then got an interception, converted for a TD. Then the Leopards forced a fumble off the return, and then converted THAT for a TD, making this a game. It's on CN8. You really should be watching this.
20 comments
Read more

Examining A Figure Skating Rivalry: Tonya and Nancy

It must be very hard for a millennial to understand the fuss around the Nancy Kerrigan and Tonya Harding figure skating scandal in the run-up to the 1994 Olympics. If you're of a certain age, though - whether you're a figure skating fan or not, and I am decidedly no fan of figure skating - the Shakespearean story of Harding and Kerrigan still engages, and still grabs peoples' attention, twenty years later. Why, though?  Why, twenty years later, in a sport I care little, does the story still grab me?  Why did I spend time out of my life watching dueling NBC and ESPN documentaries on the subject, and Google multiple stories about Jeff Gilooly , idiot "bodyguards", and the whole sordid affair? I think it's because the story, even twenty years later, is like opium. The addictive story, even now, has everything.  Everything.  The woman that fought for everything, perhaps crossing over to the dark side to get her chance at Olypic Gold, vs. the woman who...
1 comment
Read more